As well as some symmetries of place (travelling between piers, seas, and seaside towns) I’ve realised that there can be a symmetry of time to this journey. I left Brighton shortly before my 25th birthday, so if I arrive back for my 50th I will have symbolically concluded another 25 years – the second half of my life during which I’ve lived in places other than Brighton.
Still thinking about routes. I could hug the motoways which have some meaning (in the tradition of Iain Sinclair (M25) or John Davies (M62). I’d be doing the M58+6+42+40+25+23. (Perhaps these numbers have some numerological significance? They can be distilled down to 5…) Or I could parallel the rail network… or go with my original idea of using the long distance path network. It’s a bit like choosing an operating system for a PC. The territory I have to cover is a vast mass of information, chaotic and huge, tidal waves of detail, masses of unrelated objects – the system I choose will, hopefully, make enough sense for me to get from A to B. My hardware will be boots, socks (psychogeography), waterproofs, a compass; my software maps, guides, signs. Whereas a PC uses cascades of logic to create patterns that we channel into some kind of meaning, my kit will spawn the millions of choices needed to put one foot in front of the other…
Walking Home to 50 